This is the shocking moment a young man lying almost horizontally on the seat of his moped uses his feet to steer as he makes a telephone call.

The footage was captured on an expressway in the prefecture level city of Yibin in the south-eastern part of Sichuan province, China.

The woman driver who filmed what was happening said the man was also wearing headphones as he drove the electric scooter down the busy road, using his right foot to control the accelerator with his left foot lying on the footrest.

She said that she watched for some time as he was driving with his feet and initially did not have the phone, but later he pulled it out, dialled a number and then proceeded to have a conversation with the person at the other end.

Online commentators were torn between those that praised the man’s driving skills and those that thought he was a danger to himself and others on the road.

They also noted that he wasn’t wearing a crash helmet, and only had light clothing, meaning that if he were to fall off, he would almost certainly end up with at least serious injury.

It was later confirmed that the police have tracked down the man who had not been named and that the case has been handed over to the traffic department who will decide how to handle the matter.